'Once you've put information in a computer, then it's anybody's game'

A Senate confirmation showdown is looming for President Obama’s choice to be U.S. surgeon general, largely as a result of the nominee’s ardent gun-control advocacy.

Thirty-seven-year-old Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy is lauded for his leadership abilities and for his ability to promote healthy lifestyles in a dynamic manner. He is also the co-founder of Doctors for America, an organization that advocates gun control and urges physicians to ask detailed questions of their patients about gun ownership and usage.

“His urging that particular policy shows that he does not understand medical ethics. That is a question so far outside of anything to do with medicine. It shows that he is a willing tool of the state, even as German doctors and Soviet doctors would send to the regime information about the people that were in their care. This is an extremely alarming attitude. This guy clearly looks at himself as a government functionary before he considers anything about medicine,” Pratt said.

So how exactly could a conversation with a doctor about guns in the home lead to an erosion of Americans’ Second Amendment rights? Pratt believes once the data exists, those rights are endangered.

“Once you’ve put information in a computer, then it’s anybody’s game. I would say a 14-year-old would be able to obtain that data. The Canadians had a registry for long guns for several years, and they found the thing was being hacked, typically by younger people because they’re so good at computers. They finally took the registry down,” Pratt said.

“So if the Canadians have learned that you can’t put this kind of sensitive information in some central pot, then hopefully we’ll learn from them,” he said.

The U.S. Surgeon General’s office provides a platform to speak out on various issues, but Pratt admits Murthy would have no power to compel doctors to discuss firearms with their patients. Still, he said the wrong person in that job can still do damage, and the nomination continues what he considers a disturbing trend from this administration.

“The only thing he can really do is push money out the door to anti-Second Amendment organizations that would do ‘medical research,’ do studies about how guns are epidemic in our country and things of that sort. That’s been done before in years past and has largely been disregarded,” Pratt said.

“But it’s clear they are looking for any way they can find to try to put their finger on the scale and change the debate. It’s the same thing they were doing when they intentionally got people murdered in ‘Fast and Furious,’ hoping that would change the gun-control debate,” he said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., vows to stop the Murthy nomination over his Second Amendment views. However, Democrats hold a 10-seat majority in the Senate and recently relaxed the rules for approving presidential nominations. However, Pratt said the recent rejection of Debo Adegbile to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Right Division shows Democratic senators might not want to stick their necks out too far for President Obama right now.

“We’ve already seen one nominee fail because there are a number of Democrats running in Republicans states this November,” Pratt said, “and they decided they really like their job a whole lot more than just pleasing a lame-duck president.”

Should doctors ask Americans about gun ownership and usage?

Yes, it could save the life of an innocent American

Yes, and doctors should report the parents to the government if they believe anyone is in danger

Yes, how else will we stop gun use by mentally ill individuals?

Yes, doctors have a responsibility to know what's going on in the homes of patients

Yes, but people should always be free to disregard the advice of doctors

Yes, but it shouldn't be mandated by government

No, what's next, questions about our politics?

No, not unless they want my sage advice on what to buy and not buy

No, exercising a key constitutional right does not equal a health risk

No, once firearms come under federal 'health' bureaucracies, say goodbye to the Second Amendment